Shamans The Bridge between Man and God
Posted on March 17, 2008 by Charles Hamel in Japan | 5 Comments
Shamanism
Shamanism is a traditional belief that involves a communication with the spirit world. There are various forms of Shamans according to the different ethnic groups of the world, some beliefs are very similar while others are totally different. When I think of shamans, my mind starts to picture the medicine man of the Native American Tribes, or the spiritual elder of the Amazonian Tribes.
Some of the common core beliefs in shamanism is that the spirit world plays an important role in our everyday lives., The shaman is normally the chosen one who communicates to the spirits on behalf of his or her tribe. The spirits can either be good or bad. The Shamans communicate to the spirits through trance, singing, dancing meditation, drumming or plant based entheogens. The shamans spirit leaves his or her body and enters into the world of the spirits to communicate. Shamans are considered the wise ones, the gurus, the healers or magicians.
Shamans are akin to the doctors in their tribes with the abilities to diagnose and cure suffering, and on the opposite end of the spectrum can be the cause of suffering to the tribes enemies.
A shaman may be initiated into the position, or be chosen from some strange occurrence that happens in their life. ie. near death experience, being struck by lightning, or perhaps a prophetic dream.
Fake Shamanism
There are far too many people claiming to be shamans today. You can find them hanging out in places like Sedona who charge exorbitant fees for seminars, teaching others the so called ways of the shaman. True Shamans almost in every case belong to a group, and are responsible for the welfare of the fold, and would never travel around the country teaching how to become like them.
I understand in our day and age that people are missing the sense of community, and search outside of themselves for affinity. Another sign of a fake is the person that refers to themselves as a shaman. You will not find a Native leader using that term! I know the word Shaman itself creates an air of mystery to it. The word Shaman does not come from the indigenous language. You wont find true shamans promoting books that they have written, or even college educations for that matter.
Shamanic knowledge comes from wisdom that has been passed down from generation to generation. They don’t use tarot cards or Rune Stones. If you see this, start running the other way. On the streets of Bombay, the real spiritual guides invariably blend in with the crowd, they serve the needy selflessly and do not take money or stage elaborate spiritual dramas. Those who set themselves up as ‘teachers’ and took money are immediately suspected as con-artists.
In Summary
The fact of the matter is that there is no such religion as “shamanism,” since all of the religions of the world make use—perhaps equally—of the tools of the “shaman” including liturgy (ritual), songs, incantations (recited prayers or formulas) and direct contact with the spiritual world (visions, ecstasy) in order to bring about changes on the physical plane. You can find hints of shamanism in all spirituality. Although I would say that parts do not make up the whole. Just some ideas to get the thoughts a rolling. Take Care My Friends!
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5 Responses to “Shamans The Bridge between Man and God”
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It reminds me of psychics and all the folks who claim to be psychics. No one can prove them wrong so they keep on going.
This is true David
And they will have to answer to their swindling one day.
Karma has a way of being an equalizer.
So how does the ‘shamanic’ practitioner communicate that he or she is qualified and able to serve the spiritual needs of the community, if by saying “I am a shamanic practitioner,” causes said shaman to be considered a fake? This is like a doctor being held as a fake just because she says “I am a doctor.” It does not sound reasonable to advise people to “run the other way” if a practitioner defines themself that way.
I think that if there is word for ‘shaman’, then people ought to be allowed to use it. Yes it is true that there are certain ego-centric statements that individuals will make regarding their abilities. But I also think that in our society with it’s lack of common verbage on these kinds of spiritual matters, it is important to allow for differences in language use.
If a practitioner uses shamanic practices, they ought to be able to say so. I hear qualified, legitimate shamanic practitioners use the term all of the time, so why advise a possible Lamentor that the use of the word indicates a fake?There needs to be some kind of common vernacular that allows a shamanic practioner to identify themself to the less informed without the rest of the shamanic community saying “He’s a fake because he proclaimed himself as a shaman.” And we just so happen to have a word like that already in use.
That word is shaman. Why rewrite the book when it is already written? Let’s just move beyond language and get to the heart of it: sharing the knowledge, giving service, and passing on the tradition. It does not serve the individual to view things in this way. It is better to say that if you want to know if the dude who could be a shaman is legitimate, it would be wise to ask questions about their tradition, their lineage, and the rules and principles that they follow in their spiritual work with others.
It is too easy to push aside those legitimate spiritual workers that can do a lot of good for a simple misunderstanding of language use.
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I wound up on this place a little while ago and I seriously can’t get enough! Please keep writing!